Ephrata's defense bottles up defending state champions

Ephrata 51, Lynden 26

TACOMA - Anyone familiar with the Ephrata Tigers knows they're capable of putting up huge offensive numbers.

In Thursday's 2A state quarterfinal game against the Lynden Lions, Ephrata proved itself capable of putting huge defensive numbers.

Ephrata limited the defending state champions to 16 percent field-goal shooting and set a new season-low for points allowed, destroying the Lions 51-26 at the Tacoma Dome.

Ephrata (23-2) will play in the semifinals tonight at 7 p.m. against second-ranked Mark Morris, 67-53 winners over Clarkston on Thursday. The Tigers can finish no worse than sixth, clinching their first state trophy since 2002.

The key to victory was the Tigers' offensive efficiency in the first half. The Tigers repeatedly found the open man, hitting 11 of 17 field goals (65 percent) to put Lynden in a 33-14 halftime hole.

Ephrata's huge first half caught the Lions off guard, and they played tentatively all night.

"They're such a tough team to play from behind against," Lynden coach Brian Roper said. "Tip your hat to Ephrata — that's a very good team, very tough to match up on. Coach (Brandon Evenson) did a nice job of preparing those guys."

The only Lion who made any noise at all was sharpshooting guard Brady Bomber, who took nearly half of Lynden's shots. But the senior was only 6 of 23 for the game, scoring 17 points, and no other Lion had more than three points.

"We just tried to keep him from driving and close out with a hand in his face when he shoots," said Ephrata senior Landen Lange, who saw a lot of Bomber in the Tigers' 2-3 zone. "We just tried to make him shoot off-balanced shots, not wide-open looks."

Ephrata led 15-4 after one quarter, and for the second straight game had a big second period. Lynden closed its gap to 22-14 on back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Tigers ended the half on an 11-0 spurt, six of the points courtesy of Daniel Simon and the other five from Ryan Lutz.

"They probably didn't expect that we were going to come in there and just run like that," Daniel Simon said. "The second quarter, you could tell they were tired, they were winded, they didn't know what hit them."

A night after being limited by some early foul trouble, sophomore star Patrick Simon had a big game. He scored 11 of his 13 points in the opening quarter, including three 3-pointers.

"We got knocked back early when he hit those threes, and the third was a deep NBA three," Roper said. "He looked like Reggie Miller out there - a tall Reggie Miller."

"When Patrick has stayed out of foul trouble, he's pretty tough," Evenson remarked. "Anytime a guy can hit those deep threes at 6-7, he's pretty tough.

"Not bad for a 15-year-old kid."

As for Ephrata's defensive tactics, Evenson simply credited a focused effort that didn't specifically target Bomber.

"We said, 'Brady will get his (points),'" the coach said. "It's kind of been our motto all year - the main scorer we don't really focus on, we just make it tough for him.

"A great player will score 35 on a great night. He can't outscore a whole team."

Daniel Simon led Ephrata with 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five blocks. Patrick Simon added nine rebounds and Derrick Webb had four assists and two steals.

The Tigers continued their efficient performance at the foul line, going 15 of 20 against Lynden, and are now 30 of 37 in their past two games.

Both teams struggled to score in the third, combining for 10 points. Ephrata had only three, but maintained a 36-21 lead through lockdown defense.

The 26 points allowed was a season-low for Ephrata, breaking the previous mark of 30 against Cashmere in a December non-league outing. That made for an easy win, despite the Tigers scoring their second-lowest point total of the year.

Did Ephrata know it would shut down the Lions so convincingly?

"No, not with Brady Bomber on the team," Evenson said. "I thought my kids played great defense, very inspired on the defensive end, did what they were coached to do."

Lynden 4 10 7 5 - 26

Ephrata 15 18 3 15 - 51

EPHRATA (51): Frank 1-1 1-2 3, Lange 1-1 2-2 4, D. Buchert 0-1 0-0 0, Wash 0-1 0-0 0, Lutz 2-3 0-0 5, R. Buchert 2-2 0-2 4, Tinnell 1-1 0-0 2, Webb 2-4 0-0 4, D. Simon 2-5 10-12 14, Curnutt 0-2 0-0 0, P. Simon 4-11 2-2 13, Miller 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 16-34 15-20 51.

3-pointers: Lynden 4-20 (Dallas 1-2, Blair 0-1, Br. Bomber 3-14, Bl. Bomber 0-2, Lewis 0-1), Ephrata 4-11 (Wash 0-1, Lutz 1-1, D. Simon 0-1, Curnutt 0-1, P. Simon 3-7). Rebounds: Ephrata 39 (D. Simon 11, P. Simon 9), Lynden 23 (DeLange 6). Assists: Lynden 1, Ephrata 11 (D. Simon 5, Webb 4). Blocked shots: Lynden 0, Ephrata 7 (D. Simon 5). Steals: Lynden 7 (Bl. Bomber 3), Ephrata 7 (Lange 2, Webb 2). Total fouls: Lynden 18, Ephrata 10. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: Lynden 10, Ephrata 17.

LYNDEN (26): Dallas 1-2 0-0 3, Blair 0-1 0-0 0, Martin 1-4 0-0 2, Br. Bomber 6-23 3-4 18, Bl. Bomber 0-3 0-0 0, McKee 0-6 1-2 1, Lewis 0-2 0-0 0, Seto 0-0 0-0 0, Baxter-Bowen 0-1 0-0 0, DeLange 0-7 0-0 0, Hastings 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 8-50 6-8 26.

More photos here.